1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a drying cabinet having an interior with horizontally arranged heating plates, and a cleaning device which can be inserted into the interior.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drying cabinets of the kind mentioned above are used, for example, for drying pharmaceutical or chemical products or foods such as milk, proteins, soups, fruits, vegetables and the like. Drying is often carried out under vacuum and the drying cabinets are designed accordingly.
These drying cabinets become soiled in operation and this dirt must be eliminated by cleaning. Formerly, this was performed manually; but guidelines have existed for some time which can only be met when cleaning devices are provided whose operation can be documented.
A drying cabinet of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,274. Its upper wall has a pipe connection piece which can be closed in a vacuum-tight manner, a cleaning device being insertable into the interior of the drying cabinet through this pipe connection piece. This cleaning device, which is driven by a motor, has jets or nozzles through which the cleaning fluid can be sprayed into the individual tiers of the drying cabinet. The jet of cleaning agent exits the nozzle horizontally. Because the nozzle is swivelable horizontally, the jet can also reach the corners of the interior of the drying cabinet.
A drying cabinet which is outfitted with a stationary cleaning device is known from DE-A1-100 28 895. Pipes arranged on both sides of the shelves have a plurality of nozzles through which the cleaning agent can be sprayed onto the individual shelves.
DE-C1-36 09 115 discloses a baking oven having a device for supplying expanded wet steam. Further, there is a rinsing device by means of which suds can be introduced into the baking chamber through spray nozzles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,172 discloses a washing device for transfer carts and U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,011 discloses a device for cleaning germination decks. Further, a drying device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,146.